Movie Review: The Interview

Rated R

112 minutes

Directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg

Comedies normally try to inspire some type of joy. Normally, they focus on lighthearted situations and try to make everybody laugh. As I'm sure everybody knows, this movie has not been a bucket full of laughs for Sony. The probable cause for a hacking, The Interview has accidentally brought Sony to its' knees. However, I'm not judging it as a company's decision to give Rogen money to do what he wants. I'm judging it as a simple comedy focused around a touchy subject. And by those standards, The Interview is just alright.

The Interview is a mediocre comedy with a few strong elements. It too often reverts to using the word "f*ck" and using sex as the way to make the audience laugh. It doesn't try too hard to do anything risky or inventive. It's just a stoner comedy that happens to take place in North Korea. And this movie didn't have to be outside of the box to be good, it just had to be consistently funny. Unfortunately, it doesn't have that level of consistency. There are a few bright spots and then the rest is just, unfortunately, kind of dull. 

The length of this movie is about 2 hours, and you feel every minute. There seem to be moments in the film where it seems to have found it's way, but then it just reverts to penis jokes and loses its' way again. The end of this film is so tacked on and unnecessary that it's disappointing. Rogen and co. had a perfect ending, but they copped out and added action that felt like it undermined everything that had come before.

That being said, there are quite a few instances of humor and just overall solid qualities in this movie. James Franco works very well as the lead and a lot of the movie works because his character is game to be friends with Kim-Jong Un. A lot of the best humor in the movie is Franco just spitting out one-liners and everyone being baffled around him. Randall Park works well as Kim-Jong Un, as he portrays Un as a lonely guy who just wants a friend, but also a power-hungry maniac who wants power. Additionally, the technical aspects are surprisingly excellent, with the production design in particular being a cut above average. 

It's unfortunate that this movie was forced into the circumstances that it was. Instead of being remembered as a somewhat funny but entirely forgettable, it's legacy will be one of presidential affairs. And that's unfortunate, because if it was going to be remembered like this, it should've been better. I'm happy I saw it, but I'm equally as happy to admit I'll never want to see it again.

3/5

C+